PGH ranked 99/100 for percentage of government jobs (Pittsburgh: how much, employment)

[BrianTH]

This study looked at local, state, and federal (non-military) employment in the 100 largest US metros as a percentage of total employment. Pittsburgh was 99 out of 100--only Grand Rapids, MI, had a lower percentage of government employees:

Sacramento depends most heavily on government jobs - Business First of Buffalo

This, of course, makes sense--Pittsburgh isn't a state capital, it isn't the largest city in PA, it has some federal offices but not a particularly large federal presence given its size, and so forth.

Still, it is interesting because government employment has been a source of relative stability for some metros (although declines in local and state employment in particular have often offset relative stability in federal employment). But to the extent Pittsburgh has been doing relatively well in this recession, that doesn't appear to be attributable to government employment.

[Craziaskowboi]

I wonder what Bill Steigerwald thinks of this.

Never mind.

[neurodistortion]

I like the fact that there's hardly a government presence in the Pittsburgh area unlike in certain cities because that means for us, there's a larger variety of companies and jobs offered whereas companies of government-based entities seem to come and go but usually stay consistent with what the government's needs and demands are.

[rhondee]

If we had more government jobs here our employment picture would be so much better.

[Craziaskowboi]

But government jobs don't produce wealth. We don't need 'em.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Gnutella

But government jobs don't produce wealth.

Of course they do. The fact that there are no equity investors doesn't mean there is no wealth being generated at all.

[tranceFusion]

Originally Posted by neurodistortion

I like the fact that there's hardly a government presence in the Pittsburgh area unlike in certain cities because that means for us, there's a larger variety of companies and jobs offered whereas companies of government-based entities seem to come and go but usually stay consistent with what the government's needs and demands are.

I don't really understand, but I lived/worked near DC until recently and I would say that no, government contractors don't come and go any more than businesses in the corporate sector. A well run company will have clients in both sectors and a portfolio of clients including the government sector can be quite diversified in itself as the government consists of quite a few distinct entities with their own management and budgets.

I think government jobs have lowered expectations for workers. Many people feel entitled to a job and that simply showing up is good enough. It is hard to weed out slackers when everyone is a slacker. Further, most middle class folks are going to have an office job because all of the labor jobs are undercut by immigrants.

Also, the job pool there is very dilluted. Hiring is difficult because of so many immigrants requiring sponsorship, having education in other countries whose competencies are diffcult to benchmark, language barriers, etc. If you speak english, are legal to work, and have a US education, you have a huge leg up in the job hunt without doing a damn bit of work.

I guess what I am saying is, people here work much harder for their money. In Pittsburgh, you have to earn your job. In DC, you just have to show up. Is that good or bad? I guess it depends on which side you are on

[rhondee]

I think the areas that have high numbers of public sector jobs also have a better unemployment rate.( Wash. DC area)Government jobs are not subject to the market conditions/economy like the private sector is since those industries are tax payer supported. Pittsburgh being #99 out of 100 is doing amazingly well despite not having tax payer supported industries here, but you can imagine how much more growth would occur here if there were more gov't jobs.
Yes, that's why people here work much harder for their money and Pittsburgh has a reputable image as far as having a strong work ethic.